FLORHAM PARK – Dexter McDougle walked into the Jets’ locker room Wednesday morning and peeked inside his locker, which is situated at the end of a temporary block assigned to rookies that sits in the middle of the room.

Hanging in the locker was not a red jersey that McDougle had grown accustomed to wearing, but rather, a No. 43 green jersey – the same color the rest of his defensive teammate wear.

“I was like, ‘Yes! This is real,’” McDougle said.

For the first time since suffering a serious shoulder injury last September, McDougle fully participated in a football practice Wednesday, when the Jets held their ninth of 10 organized team activities sessions.

Though McDougle, a cornerback, played in just three games last season for Maryland, the Jets still saw enough positives to draft him in the third round. He had three interceptions last season, which ended for him at Connecticut on Sept. 14 – a game in which he had two picks.

McDougle underwent surgery that left him with a large, boomerang-shaped scar on the back of his right shoulder. He said doctors did not give him a timetable for his recovery, because they told him that “with this (injury), it all depends on the person, because everybody heals different.”

McDougle not only dislocated his shoulder, but he also fractured his shoulder blade. He had to have a plate and screws inserted into his shoulder. So you can understand why the Jets wanted to be cautious with him during OTAs, keeping him in a red (non-contact) jersey even though full-on contact is prohibited at this time of year anyway.

While enduring grueling rehab during which he said he tried not “to think too far ahead,” McDougle still remained such an integral part of his college team that Maryland named an “ultimate team player” award for him – and gave him the inaugural award, of course.

McDougle’s Jets teammates don’t know him that well just yet. But when they saw him discover his green jersey Wednesday, they rejoiced along with him.

“All the guys were like, ‘He’s out of the red!’” McDougle said.

Earlier in OTAs, McDougle said he had “no clue” how long he would remain sidelined. The Jets’ trainers saw enough progress that they told him late last week to be prepared for practice snaps this week, if his rehabilitation continued to go well.

“I got my mind ready,” McDougle said. “Since September, my focus has just been (to) get healthy and get back as fast as I can. I’ve been real patient up until this point.”

McDougle felt a different emotion Wednesday as he stood in front of his locker and discussed his first practice.

“I’m just happy right now,” he said.

And indeed, he used the word “happy” four times in the span of six sentences while talking about what had just happened on the practice field.

His shoulder isn’t completely back to normal. He still must wear a thin pad on the shoulder, between his undershirt and shoulder pads.

“I’m still working on strength right now, but other than that, it’s great,” he said of his shoulder.

Nor is his play polished just yet – as you’d expect from a rookie who just made his NFL practice debut. He said he had two or three mistakes Wednesday, including an assignment gaffe that bugged him so much that he told himself, right after it happened, to review the mistake on film to prevent it from happening again.

“But all in all, I’m just happy with today,” he said. “For the most part, I did pretty good today, I feel like. I’ll just keep getting better from here on out.”